“Fender is the kind of man you should never underestimate. Let’s not underestimate him now.”
Melanie wasn’t able to sit the entire time. She would pace in the waiting room, take a walk through the hospital, just kept moving because sitting still was too difficult.
Raven sat beside me and held my hand. “It’s been six hours. That’s a good sign.”
I turned to look at her.
“That means he’s still alive. If he’s lasted this long…”
Maybe there was hope.
“What happened to the girls?”
There was another couple in the waiting room, but they sat on the opposite side, and the woman had fallen asleep on her husband’s shoulder. “They were released from the cabins. I told the men to walk them down the trail to the end of the road. Trucks will pick them up and bring them back to the city. They’ll get some money and some clothes. Then they can do whatever they want…”
She nodded. “I wish I could’ve seen it.”
“Me too.” But my place was here, next to my brother.
“What will become of the camp? Will Fender continue to run it with hired labor?”
I shook my head. “He decided to retire.”
She couldn’t hide her surprise. “Really?”
“It’s time for both of us to move on.”
“I just can’t picture a man like that in retirement.”
I shrugged. “We’ll see how it goes.”
“What about you?”
I stared into her face and admired her blue eyes. She was both brave and innocent. She was such a small part of my past, but my entire future. “I think I’ll settle down with a wife…have some kids. Walk to a coffee shop and get a few muffins in the morning. Read in bed. Go horseback riding…”
Her hand squeezed mine as a beautiful softness filled her gaze, like I’d just described a dream come true. “That sounds nice.”
A doctor in a white coat emerged and headed straight toward us. Our tender moment was ruined once reality announced itself.
I rose to my feet and prepared to hear the worst news of my life, but also still hoping for the best.
He got right to the point. “He’s stable. He had a lot of internal bleeding, but I think we addressed everything. His blood pressure is back up, his pulse is strong, and I think he’ll make a full recovery…eventually. We’re gonna keep him in the hospital for a couple days just to monitor him before we let him go. Do you have any questions for me?”
I couldn’t speak because I hadn’t expected him to say any of that. I’d expected my brother to die on the table; I’d expected to be the last one to carry the family name.
Raven spoke for me. “He’s just overwhelmed right now by the good news you delivered. When can we see him?”
“He’ll be under for a few more hours, but when he wakes up, you can visit with him. We’re gonna put him in a room soon.”
“Thank you,” Raven said.
The doctor walked away.
I didn’t realize how long I’d been holding my breath until my lungs started to ache. I finally released the air and felt tremors all over my body. Just hours ago, I’d watched my brother bleed out into the dirt and stare at the stars until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore. But he was going to survive.
Raven moved closer into me. She wrapped her arms around me and held me tightly. “Everything’s going to be alright.”
I squeezed her to me and rested my forehead against hers. I somehow came out of the darkest moment of my life with everything I wanted. I got to keep my brother, and I grew my family by finding Raven. She gave me another reason to live, to aspire to be a good person, to be better than I was before. “Yeah, I think it will be.”
I let Melanie go in first since she was the most unhinged. She was an emotional wreck, sobbing her eyes out before she even saw him. They were alone together for over an hour.
I waited in the hall with Raven, anxious to see my brother but also patient because Melanie was a part of our family now. Now, I didn’t care that she was dumb and dull once I witnessed the sincerity of her feelings. She really loved my brother. I could see it. So, I could forgive her for being a lesser woman than her sister.
Melanie eventually stepped out, her eyes puffy like she’d been crying in there too. “He wants to see you.”
I moved to the door with Raven’s hand in mine.
She pulled away and stepped back. “It should just be you. He’s been through a lot, and the last thing he wants to do is see my face.”
“He’s moved on.” I grabbed her hand again and pulled her into the room with me. Even if Fender still didn’t like her, he would have to get used to her because she was the other half of me.
He sat up in bed wearing a hospital gown with an IV in his hand, a monitor beeping next to him. As he looked at me, an emotional look subtly passed across his face. But then there was a smile. “You thought I was a goner, didn’t you?”
I came closer to the bed instead and stood over him. “Well, you kept saying you were dying, so…”
He chuckled. “I was just giving you shit.”
I moved my hand to his and gave it a squeeze.
His smile dropped.
“I’m glad you’re okay. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do without you.”
“You don’t have to worry about that…for now. I think Melanie might kill me. My fiancée is pissed.”
I gave a slight smile and took a seat.
His eyes shifted to Raven next. Instead of looking at her with hatred, his expression was subtle and impassive. “Truce?”
She came closer to the bed. “Truce.”
“Any woman who saved my brother’s life twice can’t be that bad.”
“And a man who rights his wrongs and sacrifices his life for someone else…” She struggled to get it out, like there would never truly be forgiveness for what he’d done. “Can’t be that bad either.”
He extended his hand to shake hers.
She stared at it for a few seconds before she placed her hand in his palm and shook it.
I didn’t expect Raven to ever love my brother, ever really forgive him for what he had done, so her tolerance was enough.
“I’m glad you’re okay.” She pulled her hand away.
“Really?” he challenged. “I thought nothing would make you happier than if I died.”
“You’re the man my sister loves. You’re the man my man loves. So, no, it wouldn’t make me happy. What makes me happy is knowing that those girls have been given their lives back, that the camp will no longer be the setting for such terrible things, that even the most terrible men can change. I don’t think you’ve redeemed your soul because you can never give back the lives you’ve taken, but you turned back on the darkness and decided to step into the light…and that does count for something.”
Thirty-Eight
Give It All Away
Weeks passed.
Didn’t take much for us to get back into our old routine, going for walks in the morning, making dinner at night, sleeping together in the master bedroom upstairs. Now, without the sense of dread weighing on our hearts in anticipation of our return to the camp, it did feel different.